Children of the Heart : Tournament
by Ghost in the Machine
Summary: The Tendo–Saotome School of Martial Arts attends its first major tournament. Find out who wins, who loses and if winning and losing is really the point.


  


Schedule: 227th Tokyo City-Wide Mixed Forms Tournament 

Saturday October 20th
Sunday October 21st

Opening Ceremonies 8:10 - 8:40*
Quarter Finals 9:30 - 11:00

Break

1st Round 9:00 - 11:00
Semi Finals 12:00 - 13:30

Break
Lunch

2nd Round 11:30 - 13:30
Finals 14:30 - 18:15 

Lunch
Break

3rd Round 14:30 - 16:30

Break
Awards and Closing

4th Round 17:00 - 19:00
Ceremonies 19:00 - 20:30
  
  
First day results posted 19:30 outside Main Hall (Area A)  
All second day matches will be held in the Main Hall  
  
*Please have all your representatives in: Area A, Section 5, Ring 14, no later than 8:00.

Name
Division
Location
Start Time

Area-Ring

Saotome Genma
Mens Open Open
A1-15

9:10

Saotome Genma
Mens Open Freehand
A2-6

10:20

Kuonji Ukyo*
Mens Open Weapon
A3-5

13:10

Tendo Soun
Mens Master Open
A4-15

10:40

Tendo Soun
Mens Master Freehand
B2-16

9:10

Tsuji Noboru
Boys 16-18 Freehand
B5-13

10:30

Kuonji Ukyo*
Womens Open Freehand
C1-12

11:40

Kondo Sogo
Boys 13-15 Freehand
C2-9

9:10

Tsuji Yuri*
Girls 16-18 Freehand
C5-11

11:40

Mori Ichiro
Boys 13-15 Weapon
D1-1

9:00

Jiang Gang
Boys 12+Under Freehand
D3-8

10:00

Davis Angela
Girls 13-15 Freehand
D5-6

10:10

Ysuchiya Yasueh
Girls 12+Under Freehand
E4-5

10:00

Ysuchiya Yasueh
Girls 12+Under Weapon
E5-1

12:40

  
  
* Received 1st Round Bye

The Tokyo City Wide Tournament Committee had sent invitations to 128 of the city's registered dojos. Of that number, 64 were sent to old, established schools that had been competing for years, 16 were sent to various schools specializing in weapons use, 10 were sent to the schools who had earned the most points in the previous year's tournament and that did not qualify under any other category, and the remaining 38 weren't quite picked at random. They were nominated by the various committee members and it was through this route that the Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts managed to get an invite. Ranma was determined that they would be going back next year as a top 10 point getter.  
  
Only a dozen of the largest schools entered someone in every category. Women's Senior Weapon was lucky to draw 20 or so entrants each year. The Boys Freehand tournaments usually had full brackets. But it was the Men's Open Open tourney that usually drew the most attention. Ranma had convinced Genma to compete by the simple expedient of bribing him. Ranma hadn't said what the bribe was, but with Genma it was a safe bet that it involved money, food or alcohol.  
  
Any bye was worth nothing. A first round win was worth 1 point. A second round win was worth 2 points, third round, 3 points and so on. The winner in any category received bonus points equal to the number of rounds in the tournament. The Men's Open Open division, being of the highest prestige, was worth double.  
  
The format was a blind draw. You didn't know who your opponent would be until the match was announced. If you were victorious, you were told when and where your next match would be. If you were disqualified from any match, you were disqualified from all categories you were entered in.  
  
Because of the huge number of matches involved, there were different victory conditions for the various rounds. Until the field was reduced to 16, there was only one official per match who declared a win if a fighter forced his opponent from the challenge circle, scored two points or obtained a five second pin fall. There was also a 7 minute time limit that rarely came into play.  
  
The next two rounds had three judges and were to eviction, three points or ten seconds and had a 10 minute time limit. The final two rounds had a council of five judges and the battles were to eviction, five points, or a full thirty second pin and were over after 15 minutes.   
  
Of course, a fighter could yield without any of the winning conditions being satisfied by his opponent. The use of crippling blows were grounds for immediate disqualification in the Junior tournaments and at least a two point penalty in the other divisions. Severe or repeated infractions could result in permanent banishment from the tourney. All edged weapons would be dulled and all pointed weapons bated. Since scores were made by touches, there was no need for actual blood letting.  
  
It was the Tuesday afternoon before the tournament when the Tendo/Saotome School of Martial arts received the words it had been waiting for. A bulky envelope contained the location and times of its entrant's first round matches. There was also the seating chart of where the Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts would be during the opening ceremonies.  
  
Being the first time the school had competed, they were in the last row with the other new schools. Seating for the awards ceremonies were based on a school's final standing. Ranma intended to be near or at the front of the room for that.  
  
The committee had a reputation for fairness in trying to avoid scheduling conflicts. It showed when none of the four people competing in two categories had first round matches within an hour of each other.  
  
"I can't believe I got two first round byes," Ukyo observed disappointedly when the meeting announcing the information was held.  
  
"That's the way the brackets break," Ranma replied while looking through the notification and its attached documents.  
  
Ysuchiya Yasueh, the school's Girl's 12 and Under entrant in both Freehand and Weapon asked, "Sensei? Why is my first weapons's match so late?"  
  
Ranma searched through the various forms the tournament committee sent for the answer. "Because there are only 49 people in that division. You'll probably have your second round Freehand match before your first round weapons match."  
  
"Thank you Sensei." A month of working closely with Ranma had dulled some of the rough edges on the girl's behavior while sharpening her burgeoning skills. The extra attention had actually helped all of the younger students.  
  
Ranma figured that everyone should get out of the first round and had hopes that at least one of his younger students might win a division. Ukyo should do well in Women's Open Freehand. Ranma was a little more concerned with her chances in Men's Open Weapon. He knew Kuno was competing in that category and the new 'sane' Kuno had developed into one heck of fighter. If he could overcome his normal attitude toward women, he'd beat Ukyo.  
  
His father should easily make the finals in both his categories. While Ranma had doubts about Genma's ability as a father and human being, he knew that his old man was still one heck of a martial artist. Ranma was willing to pay off the bribe he'd been forced to come up with to get Genma to compete, even if it might upset his mother a little.   
  
His father-in-law was another matter altogether. Returning to instructing had been good for him. His emotional stability was better than at any time that Ranma had ever seen. Giving up smoking meant his endurance was good too. But it seemed that Soun had lost the spark the separates the great from the merely good. Ranma figured he'd be lucky to get past the first day's competition.  
  
In the junior divisions, it was the 16-18 age brackets that bothered Ranma the most. The school had few people eligible as many in that age range were already established at other dojos. No one he had in that age bracket was even close to the skill level that Akane had possessed at 16, let alone himself. He didn't think that they would earn many points there.  
  
The tournament participants (and in some cases, their parents) discussed options and made contingency plans. Every participant was assigned someone to make sure they got to matches on time. There would be one last extra practice Thursday night before the tournament on Saturday.  
  
While the fighters were busy training, Kasumi was busy figuring out how well they needed to do to be invited back the next year. She had bought an 'old' computer at a garage sale for few thousand yen. She created a spreadsheet that listed available points, total points and lots of other tournament data. The bigger the field in any one division, the more points that were at stake. But the percentage of points that one person could walk away with was lower.  
  
If a school had entered someone in every division and won every match, they would receive 984 points out of a possible 5897. With entrants in fourteen categories and three first round byes, the best the Tendo/Saotome school could do was 514 points. The 'average' school would bring 17 people to fight in 20 divisions and score an average of 46 points.   
  
By looking at the results from the last few years, Kasumi gained a sense of where they needed to finish. The last of the 'Ten Best Other Schools' that had received the invite this year had actually placed 44th overall. When informed of this, Ranma laughed out loud. Winning the Men's Open Open division was worth 70 by itself. His father alone could get enough points to finish 44th. He changed his goal from getting an invite for next year's tourney to finishing in the top 10 overall.  
  
Ranma arranged a surprise for the last pre-tournament practice session. He'd called Mousse and Mousse had agreed to spar (for a fee) with Ranma as an example of some of the things the students might come up against. Needless to say, the younger students were impressed as Mousse demonstrated his skills. Afterwards, the youngest, Jiang Gang, who was also Chinese, asked his sensei if he could challenge Mousse.  
  
Ranma was smiling as he said, "Hey Mousse, we have a challenger for you."  
  
"What? Somebody wants a shot at me after seeing that?" the former duck-boy asked. He'd been on top of his form and knew it.  
  
"The giving and receiving of challenges is integral to the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," most of the people present answered as one.  
  
Mousse shrugged and took his place at one end of the challenge circle. He was not happy to see the smallest child in the room (except the one in Akane's womb) take his place at the other end of the circle. Gang bowed deeply to his elder and Mousse gave a slight incline of the head in return.  
  
"Begin," Ranma stated.  
  
Mousse turned to his former rival, "Tendo, you've got to be kidding. How old is he? Nine?"   
  
When Ranma didn't answer, Mousse looked toward the ceiling. "Oh please," he started. "Why do I- whoofff."  
  
What he planned on saying is unknown, as Jiang Gang took advantage of his opponent's carelessness to land a surprisingly hard punch to Mousse's stomach.  
  
"Full Point, Jiang Gang," Ranma said amusedly.  
  
"I'm -ten-," said the boy firmly before returning to the ready position.  
  
Mousse frowned and had the youngster trussed in chains about a second after the match restarted.  
  
"Match, Mu Tsu," Ranma managed to get out before breaking out in laughter.  
  
Ranma used it as an example that all opponents should be treated seriously. Mousse got seriously embarrassed. Many of the females present thought said embarrassment was cute. Young Gang was happy to score off of one of Ranma's sparring partners. It was a pretty laid back group that went home after the practice. The tourney would begin in two days.  
  
-----  
  
Kasumi had breakfast ready and waiting for Ranma and Akane when their alarm clock went off at 6:15. Akane heaved her six months pregnant belly out of bed and was first to the bathroom. Ranma followed, somewhat frowzy until the smell of Kasumi's cooking registered in his brain. Then the Saotome part of his brain took over and concentrated on food.  
  
"You two are on your own from here," Kasumi informed them as she prepared to head for Ukyo's. Ukyo had asked Kasumi to be her 'tournament buddy'. She was honored and had agreed to do so at once for her friend and employer.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. We'll probably be at the convention center before you," Ranma managed around a mouth full of rice. Tendo Soun had already finished eating and was reading the sports section. The tournament had a prominent mention on the third page.  
  
"Do you have everything?"  
  
Akane padded in to the room, dressed in a loose maternity outfit. She was carrying her old schoolbag. It had everything they would need for the day. Official invitations, seating assignments, maps of the tournament locations, lunch money, everyone's first round schedule and anything else they might need. "I sure hope so," she told her sister.  
  
"All right then, I'll be in the stands near where the school will be sitting." Kasumi paused on her way out to kiss her father on the cheek. "Good luck Daddy."  
  
Ranma did a short version of his morning exercises, cleaned up in the furo and left for the train station with Akane and Soun. It was Saturday, so the trains were both on time and not excessively full. After changing trains downtown, they rode to the convention center and arrived with a good 20 minutes to spare.   
  
As they were entering the room labeled 'DOJO OWNERS OR THEIR REPRESENTATIVES ONLY' Akane pointed out, "If we were still in high school, arriving this early would be considered a miracle."  
  
Ranma resisted the momentary urge to make a smartass remark. He had matured somewhat in the last two plus years. He'd also learned that fewer smartass remarks led to fewer arguments with his wife. Between the pregnancy, her college work and the situation with Ukyo, things were touchy enough. Akane was using the tournament as a break from the rest of her troubles. Ranma was smart enough to let her do so.  
  
Akane produced the official invitation and the Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts was given it's official place as a competing school. There were a few formalities before Ranma and Akane entered the main hall. The two were the youngest dojo heads present by a margin of at least 10 years.  
  
Area A was bigger than Ranma had realized. There were eighty challenge rings on the floor of the room, each the size of a sumo ring (4.6 meters). When the tournament started, each would have a judge, a time keeper and two 'runners'. The runners were there to relay the results to the official scorers for use in determining the final standings. Kasumi had worked up a chart to help Ranma keep track of things. It was in Akane's bag along with a lot of other stuff.  
  
When Ranma and Akane arrived at Area A, Section 5, Ring 14, all their people were already there. Also crowded into the limited space were eighteen representatives of another dojo. Ukyo pointed out Kasumi's location in the crowd. Sitting near her were a number of the dojo's students and in some cases, their families. Two students held aloft a banner between them. 'Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts: We're here to kick to your @$$'. Another held up a poster stating 'Nerima Wrecking Crew: The Next Generation' in English. Considering what some of the other banners among the 6000 or so other attendees said, Ranma and Akane thought them in good taste.  
  
At 8:00 precisely, a man's voice came over the PA system. "Attention. Attention Please. All participants and school heads, please take your positions. Opening ceremonies will start in 10 minutes."  
  
Akane got the group organized. Ranma, herself, Soun and Genma in front as the heads of the school and the eldest instructors. The remaining eight in order of age in two rows behind them. Ukyo had her combat spatula, Mori Ichiro his wooden version of the same, and Ysuchiya Yasueh proudly gripped a staff that was two inches taller than she was.  
  
At 8:10 on the dot, the sound of a kodo drum was heard, followed by several more. A group of two dozen drummers paraded out to the crowd and began playing furiously. The dozen senior ranking members of the tournament committee, dressed in attire appropriate to their martial arts status, stepped in solemnly. It was as opposed to the active drumming as could be imagined. After they were seated, the rest of the Judges Box was filled with lesser members of the committee dressed similarly. A signal was given and the drumming stopped. One lone drummer beat out a flourish as the youngest of the senior judges rose and took a place front and center in front of the Judges Box. A small boy, no older than six, wearing a painfully white gi with a white belt, handed the martial arts master a microphone and the opening speech began.  
  
Ranma, being Ranma, listened with only half an ear. He would have fallen asleep, but Akane kept him from dozing off. Ranma knew most of the information about the tournament the old guy was telling everyone already. Four full brackets, 2209 participants in 2599 slots who would have a total of 2569 matches over the course of the next two days. Highest number of female participants ever. Twelve women competing in the men's divisions. Ranma noted that last one and thought it good that Ukyo wasn't the only one.  
  
Just at the point where the audience started getting restless and the participants as well, the speech ended and there was another session of drumming. After the last bang on the last drum faded, an announcer stated the the first matches would begin in at precisely 9:00, or in 22 minutes.  
  
Ranma and Ukyo intended to watch Mori Ichiro's first match in one of the ancillary ballrooms before Ranma went to a nearby hotel that was hosting the Girl's 12 and under tournaments as well as Women's Masters and Seniors events. He had promised to attend Ysuchiya Yasueh's first bout.  
  
Akane left the building for Kondo Sogo's first bout at a nearby university gym where Ukyo's first match was to be. Genma was left to the tender mercies of his wife, but he wouldn't need to leave the main hall at all except to eat. Soun's 'date', Kondo Hiromi, would keep a close eye on him as he traveled back and forth from the main auditorium to the slightly smaller gymnasium. After that, scheduling was excessively subject to change.  
  
Angela Davis' step-father, Kanazawa Ozaki, volunteered to be the central clearing point for all tournament results. He would stay put in Area A. Everyone would report results (and next match times and locations) to him. Ranma, Akane and anyone else could check with him to keep up to date and decide who they wanted to see next.  
  
The first session went well. Ten fights, ten wins, eleven points. Ranma wasn't exactly pleased considering the way that eleventh point was earned. Tsuji Noboru won on a disqualification. His opponent, who had been winning anyway, made an illegal strike on Noburu's knee. Noboru won the match, but was out of the tournament. Ranma was pissed. He knew that with Noboru injured, his twin sister Yuri would likely screw up her first match during the next session.  
  
Genma had used the 'koi pond toss' on both of his first round opponents, ending those matches in under 5 seconds each. Soun won his matches on points. 2-0 and 2-0. Jiang Gang used a stomach throw to eject his much bigger opponent from the ring. Mori Ichiro took a quick hit from a bamboo sword before clobbering his opponent with his wooden combat spatula. Wooden combat spatulas do a lot more damage than bamboo swords because they are much heavier. Using the flat, he pushed his slightly dazed opponent out of the ring to the cheers of Ukyo and Ranma among others.  
  
Ysuchiya Yasueh won by pin fall. She just grabbed her smaller opponent, slammed her to the ground and held her down for the five count. Angela Davis had the fluke win. After the start of the match, her opponent had taken a step backward to drop into a cat foot stance. Angela took the initiative, approaching for an attack from the right side. Her foe didn't like this and adjusted by taking another step backwards. That step ended a mere centimeter outside the challenge circle. Angela won without throwing a punch.  
  
Angela lost her second round match 2 1/2 points to 1. She went down swinging. The final kick she took had come from a chi enhanced leap. Only five of the more than ninety students of the Tendo/Saotome school had any chi abilities, and that five included Ukyo. Angela Davis wasn't one of the other four. Akane thought she did well considering.  
  
Tsuji Yuri did as Ranma had predicted. Her concern for her brother's injury left her distracted and easily thrown from the challenge circle.  
  
Genma and Soun repeated their first round performances, although Genma had to disarm his sword wielding opponent in the Open match before throwing him. Ukyo won her Freehand match 2-0. She was just too fast for her opponent. Her Men's Open Weapon match was delayed five minutes to allow the ring to be cleaned. The last fight had ended with a scalp wound that bled spectacularly. Nothing actually serious, scalp wounds are just notoriously messy. After the delay, Ukyo calmly dispatched her foe, tripping up the bo user with a low sweep and then pushing him out of bounds with the flat of her weapon a minute into the contest.  
  
During the lunch break, most of the Tendo/Saotome School gathered in one section of the main auditorium. In the background, half the challenge rings on the floor were being removed by a horde of volunteers. Things were going very well, except for Tsuji Noboru's knee injury. His twin sister had gone with him to the hospital to get the knee looked at.  
  
Ranma went over the results so far. Twenty one wins, three losses, and one of those was the injury caused forfeit. The school was putting itself on the map in a big way. Out of the 40 possible points they could have had at this stage, they had 34. Although no official results would be posted until after the day's final sessions, Kasumi's calculations indicated the school should be well up among the leaders.  
  
Akane had already been approached by a couple who wanted their children to start lessons at the dojo. So as far as the advertising aspect of the tournament, that was one on the plus side. About twenty minutes before the third session started, the group broke up and the competitors went to their respective venues. Three of the eleven matches in the next round were starting at the beginning of the third session. No one wanted to be late.  
  
Round three was a field day for the Tendo/Saotome school. A clean sweep. They received no points for Jiang Gang's match. His opponent failed to show for it. Exactly why this happened, no one knew. Ranma figured it was probably another injury. The younger students all won decisive victories. The interesting fights were with Soun, Genma and Ukyo.  
  
Soun out pointed his first opponent 2 1/2 to 1. His second, in the Open match, managed to get a numbing blow into Soun's right arm. Soun KO'ed him with a jumping side kick immediately after, but the arm was definitely hurt. Ranma figured Tofu-sensei'd be able to fix it in a few seconds, but the young doctor wasn't due back from wherever he kept disappearing to for another two months. Soun alternated hot and cold packs and kept stretching it to keep it loose. Ranma hoped that his father-in-law had late draws for the fourth session.  
  
Genma could not use his 'koi pond throw' on his Men's Open Open opponent. Said opponent, being a 200 kilo sumo wrestler, was just to damn big for it to work. The wrestler also had excellent defensive speed for someone his size. 'He's like that dog-man from Prince Toma's island' Genma thought. But Genma's strikes were blocked and not merely dodged. After having his first two assaults repelled, Genma realized he just might have to work for this one. There was not enough room to get behind the man without getting too close to the edge of the challenge ring.  
  
Genma decided to use a version of the Maken Doukoku-Ha, one of the Saotome school's secret techniques. Stand out of your opponent's range and insult him. This makes him mad. An angry opponent gets sloppy. A sloppy opponent is more easily defeated.  
  
Genma stood a meter and a half out of the wrestler's reach. The wrestler hadn't moved from his horse stance since the beginning of the match. Genma started with fat jokes. These slid off his opponent like water off a duck's back. Then he switched to 'your mother is so...' insults. This got a rise from the big wrestler. He shifted his stance to a more upright one and tried throwing insults back. Genma ignored him and jumped in to throw a quick combo that was blocked by his opponent. Meanwhile, the 7 minute match clock had ticked down to under 2 minutes. Genma was willing to let time expire and leave it to the judge. He'd shown more offense and should receive the decision. The wrestler glanced at the clock and saw that he only had 90 seconds to impress the judge. So slapping his protuberant belly, he squatted down and made his first attack of the match, a low charge at Genma.  
  
This is what Genma had been waiting for. He simply leapt behind his foe and pushed him off balance. Before the wrestler could regain his balance or simply drop to the mat, Genma had shoved him completely out of the ring. His freehand match was much easier, the 'koi pond toss' worked just fine.  
  
Ukyo won her freehand match 2-0. Two years of training with Ranma had boosted her speed to levels that surprised even herself. Her speed also beat a bokken wielding swordsman in the Weapons bout. It wasn't Kuno. He was in the next ring over, thoroughly trouncing an opponent with his multi-strike attack. After the match, she went over to speak to him as he was receiving his next match assignment from the judges.  
  
"Hey Kuno-san, Ranma told me you were entered this tourney."  
  
Kuno took a slip of paper from the judge before turning toward Ukyo. "Oh, Kuonji-san, pardon me. It has been some time since I saw you last. As for the tournament, I am here on behalf of the Katsura Dojo of Toshima."  
  
"You found someplace that could teach you more about Kendo?"  
  
"Ah... no. I am currently studying Aikido there. I felt the need to become a more rounded martial artist. My dependence on swords was... limiting... my development. But my sensei asked if I would represent the school in this division. I was honored to do so."  
  
"The old Kuno Tatewaki would never have done that."  
  
"I am no longer the 'old Kuno Tatewaki' Kuonji-san. I hope to never be that fool again," Kuno stated levelly.  
  
"Maybe you should stop by my restaurant and we can talk, I'm at the old Cat Cafe building now."  
  
"Perhaps I will. Know that I no longer live in Nerima. My father now inhabits the Kuno fortress with my blessings. I had tried to rebuild it to eliminate the old spirits, but failed in the endeavor."  
  
Ukyo realized that Kuno admitting a failure was a big change in his behavior. Curious, she asked, "How's Kodachi?"  
  
Ukyo saw the flash of annoyance that crossed Kuno's face. "My sister is as one who is dead to me. Even if she were not, she is reportedly living 'happily' in Wakayama. As long as she stays away, I do not concern myself with her activities. I have tried to shed my madness. She still embraces hers."  
  
"I'm sorry." Both about the question and the answer.  
  
"It is indeed a tragic situation. Now if you will please excuse me, I must report my victory to my sensei."  
  
"Me too. Only 16 of us left in this division, maybe we'll have a match."  
  
"Perhaps." Kuno nodded, turned and walked away.  
  
Ukyo checked in with Kanazawa-san. According to him, Ranma hadn't come back from watching Kondo Sogo's third round match yet and Akane was taking Ysuchiya Yasueh to her second Weapons match. So telling the two about her encounter with Kuno waited until the break between the third and forth rounds.  
  
Ranma's concern about Soun's right arm was well founded. His fourth round Open opponent, a staff wielder, apparently knew about the injury. At least most of his attacks were directed at Soun's injured arm. Soun gave ground to protect himself and got trapped near the edge of the challenge ring. He tried to leap clear, but the staff wielder leapt up as well and knocked Soun from the ring.  
  
It was the only fourth session match the school lost. Soun won his Freehand match using only his feet. Between matches, Kasumi taped up his injured right arm. Despite the arm being an obvious target, Soun's leaping and kicking abilities were up to the task of winning the round.  
  
The 'koi pond toss' won another Freehand match for Genma. His Open fight against another staff user took about five seconds as well. Genma's opponent had attempted to strike first. Genma grabbed the incoming staff with his left hand, broke the weapon in two with his right and then proceed to KO his opponent in one shot with the broken off end.  
  
Ukyo won her fourth round freehand match 3 to 1. Her opponent had made an excellent counter to one of Ukyo's attacks and slammed her to the mat. Ukyo broke the hold before the ten count and scored a decisive full point strike to her opponent's temple after the next restart. The Weapon's match was different. Her competitor carried what looked like a shortened version of kaiso (seaweed) farmer's harvesting stick. Using the two pronged instrument, he disarmed Ukyo, flinging her weapon flying high into the air. If it landed out of bounds, she would lose.   
  
Barehanded attacks were not allowed in a Weapons match. Before Ukyo's spatula combat reached the peak of it's flight, she had come up with an idea and got busy executing it. Rushing forward, she pulled two mini spatulas from the inside of her okonomiyaki sellers outfit. With a focused shout, she shoved both weapons under her very surprised foe's armpits. Straining, she picked the well built man up and dumped him outside the challenge ring with them. His butt touched down a fractional second before Ukyo's spatula landed on the ground next to him.  
  
The man lodged a protest, but the judges awarded Ukyo the match. There was no rule against hidden weapons, so Ukyo's attack was legal. The rules also stated that a weapon or a contestant landing out of bounds ended a match. He landed before the weapon, he lost.  
  
Kondo Sogo won his fourth round match by pin fall after being down 1/2 to 1 1/2. Sogo had scored on a straight punch first. He then fell victim to two foot sweeps and flutter kick. Focusing his determination and his chi, Sogo prepared himself for the next attack. When his adversary dropped for another foot sweep, Sogo made a spectacular leap over his foe's crouched body. Before his opponent could recover, Sogo clamped an arm bar on him. Taking a few seconds to lead him to an appropriate position, Sogo held on for a ten count and the victory.  
  
Mori Ichiro had no problems against his own fourth round match. He wondered how his opponent had got as far he had. He easily outclassed and outfought his bokken wielding opponent.  
  
Jiang Gang, well rested from his third round bye, scored a 3 to 1 victory by concentrating on scoring quick hits against his much larger, somewhat stronger, but nowhere near as fast opponent. 'Just like sensei told me about his fights with Hibiki-san.'  
  
Ysuchiya Yasueh won her Freehand match the same way she won her first round match. This time the opposition was larger, but went down the same way. Picked up, slammed down and held there. The show of strength impressed the small audience that saw it. Her third round Weapons match was against a girl who had seen the display of raw strength. It spooked her enough that Yasueh had no trouble driving her from the ring with a flurry of powerful swings of her staff. Hers was last match for the Tendo/Saotome school that day. Most of the school that was still there had seen her win. She rode on Ranma's shoulders back to the Main Auditorium holding her staff with a fierce pride.  
  
-----  
  
Ranma and Akane were back in the room marked 'DOJO OWNERS OR THEIR REPRESENTATIVES ONLY'. They were waiting for the official first day results. By their own count, they knew their school had earned 109 points out of the 143 that they could get the first day. Kasumi's calculations said that the 'average' school should have 36 points at the end of the first day. They had just over three times that.   
  
Ranma was certain they would get an invite back for the next year's tournament. They already had more points than last year's final qualifier. The overall standings were the first to be released. The first three names flashed up on the scoreboard.

Tamatan Martial Arts Academy
123
54-17
.761

Maki-Yanagimoto Combined Styles Dojo
114
56-15
.789

Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts
109
41-4
.911
  
  
The upstart school headed by two teenagers was in third place with a phenomenal winning percentage. Genma was responsible for 30 of those points, having won six of his eight matches with the same throw that had landed Ranma in the koi pond all those times. Ranma promised himself that he'd buy his old man a steak dinner for his efforts on behalf of the dojo.  
  
The Tamatan Martial Arts Academy was a large school that had entrants in every category. Their success came from dominating the Senior and Master categories. Soun's beating their representative in his third round Freehand victory was the only loss they had sustained in those age brackets. They earned enough points in the Junior's events to make up for being nearly shut out in the Open divisions.   
  
The Maki-Yanagimoto Combined Styles Dojo was in second place mainly because the excellent results they had from the nineteen women and girls on their team out of twenty three total entrants. Two women and three girls were competing in the Men's and Boy's weapon brackets and had picked up 28 points there. The tournament rules were well fitted to their preference of speed over power. Needing only quick touches to score points in their matches, they took advantage of that fact to earn their wins.  
  
It demonstrated one of Ranma's main problems with tournament fighting. There were enough differences from reality to foster strategies that would be suicidal in real life. Ranma had seen a few of their fights during the course of the long day. He wasn't impressed. In a real fight with no rules, Ranma would bet on his students.  
  
Akane was speaking with an elderly woman from another dojo while Ranma was scanning the printout of results he'd received. Skipping past the details, he went straight to the summary page. They had no tourney divisions left in common with Tamatan and only the Girl's 12 and Under Weapons division with Maki-Yanagimoto. But those two schools still had seven divisions in common.  
  
Ranma looked up from the report and said, "Akane, look at this."  
  
"Well, you take care dearie. I'm sure you'll be a wonderful mother," the elderly woman said, breaking off her conversation with Akane.  
  
"What?" Akane asked with a trace of annoyance. She'd been enjoying her talk and would have preferred to continue it.  
  
"Sorry. I was just looking at the tournament summary." He then explained what he'd seen ending with, "Tamatan Academy is going to be near impossible to catch. They'll probably pick up a slew of points in the senior divisions."  
  
"Don't worry about it Ranma. Overall, we're doing real well. You didn't expect to win the tournament with only 10 people did you?"  
  
"I guess I got my hopes up."  
  
Akane, her anger mercurial as always, kissed her husband on the cheek. "We've done enough to be invited back next year. Plus we're bound to get more students."  
  
"More work for me."  
  
"You love it and don't try to deny it. After our daughter is born, I can start teaching a class or two again."  
  
"Well I don't want to get too busy. I want some time to be with you and Ranko." Ranma could finally admit that there was more to life than martial arts. It was an admission that had cost him pride, but broadened his horizons immeasurably.  
  
"Only if she's a red head, remember."  
  
"Yeah yeah. But we ought to see if we can pick up an instructor somewhere. I don't think either of our dads want any more classes than they've got."  
  
"Well, I'm sure your father doesn't," Akane commented sarcastically. "But my dad might take another class or two. He's really settled down since he started dating again."  
  
"I always wondered how you and your sisters took that. Nabiki's at Stanford and I don't talk much with Kasumi anymore. When I do, it's usually about food or stuff the dojo needs."  
  
"At first, I thought he was betraying the memory of our mother. But Mother's been dead for thirteen years. It's not like I expected him to mourn forever. It's been good for him. I don't know about Nabiki, but I think Kasumi feels the same way."  
  
"Huh," grunted Ranma. "We started talking about the tournament and wound up talking about your dad's social life. How'd that happen?"  
  
"Same way everything else happens in our lives. Chaotically. Let's go break the good news to everyone and go home. It's been a long day."  
  
"Best idea I've heard all day." Ranma filed the tournament print out in Akane's old schoolbag and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, led her from the room.  
  
-----  
  
The quarter final matches didn't start until 9:30, so Ranma and Akane slept in until 7:30 before rising and doing their morning exercises. Akane was reaching the stage where she was getting a bit clumsy, but Ranma was there to help her with her balance when needed. The two cleaned up together and ate a light breakfast before leaving with Soun for the convention center.  
  
Since there were only 210 matches left in the tournament, all the action would be in the main auditorium. By the time Akane got their team assembled, the hall was nearing it's capacity of 9000 people. Many of those who had been knocked out of the tournament stayed to cheer on the other competitors from their schools. Others, whose schools had been knocked out, were cheering for anyone who could beat the people who had defeated them. Or maybe they came just because they liked martial arts.  
  
Of the 128 schools that started yesterday, only 60 remained at this point. Instead of the eighty challenge rings that had been crowded together yesterday, there were only thirty, each just over 6 meter's wide, one for each division. Starting times were staggered so that something would be going on at all times during the quarter final round.  
  
The tournament committee had to shuffle things a bit so that those who were still competing in more than one division could obtain a reasonable break between matches. But that might not be possible in the semis or the finals. Endurance would play a big part for those who fought in two categories. Fortunately, no one was still in the tournament in three divisions. That would have been a scheduling nightmare.  
  
Ysuchiya Yasueh was the first Tendo/Saotome representative up. Her 9:30 match was in Freehand. Her Weapon match wouldn't start until 10:30. The 11 year old girl had fought seven matches the previous day. Despite her assurances to the contrary, Ranma wondered if Yasueh-chan could keep up the pace.  
  
The match went nine long minutes without any scoring. Each punch and kick being either blocked or avoided by the other. If Ranma were a judge, he'd rate Yasueh as being the slightly more aggressive. With sixty seconds before the end of the match, both fighters were tired. After a brief flurry of blows similar to what had been happening the entire match, Yasueh finally slipped a glancing blow past her opponent's heretofore iron defense. It was a light blow, only worth a half point. But it was all she needed to get into the Semifinals after she ably defended herself for the remaining seconds of the match.  
  
The match took so long that Ranma missed the start of Ukyo's Women's Open Freehand fight, Kondo Sogo's Boys 13-15 Freehand contest and Jiang Gang's Boys 12 and Under Freehand match. Knowing Ukyo could take care of herself, he turned to the ring where Kondo Sogo was having his match. By the time he could spot the correct circle, the match was over. Sogo had been thrown from the ring by his opponent.  
  
"I'm very sorry Sensei", the embarrassed boy told Ranma. "When I threw my first punch, he just grabbed my arm like it was nothing and next thing I know, I'm landing on my butt. I didn't even have time to counter grapple."  
  
"Don't sweat it. You won four bouts and did the school proud. That's all that matters."  
  
"Well, it's something I want to work on in my next class."  
  
"That's the spirit."  
  
While this was going on, Jiang Gang was calmly defending himself from his older and larger adversary. He didn't yet have Ranma's eye for analyzing opponents in mid-combat, but he was working on it. After three minutes of defensive fighting and careful maneuvering, Gang thought he'd found an exploitable hole.  
  
He dropped to the ground and launched a fast kick to his opponent's leg. It connected for half a point. Repeated for another half point. When Gang feinted the move again, his opponent bought it and Gang scored a full point blow to the midsection before his foe could recover. Gang worked variations on the theme and soon won the match 3 to 1/2.  
  
Ukyo won her freehand match 3 to 1 1/2. It was getting to the point where she was merely somewhat faster than her opponents, not blindingly faster. After the match she decided to keep an eye on the other matches in the ring. Now that there were only three other possible competitors, it would pay to keep an eye out for who her next opponent might be.  
  
Ranma's father was next to compete. This was his Men's Open Freehand match. The first attempt at the 'Koi Pond Toss' was countered and Genma was nearly thrown from the ring himself by a younger man his own size. 'About time someone blocked that,' Genma told himself.  
  
It turned into a battle between youth and experience. The younger man was just barely faster than himself. Genma found this out when he was hit for the first half point scored off him in the tournament. Genma was impressed. But he also had a lot of experience in fighting with faster opponents. He still regularly dueled with his son by the koi pond every Saturday. It wasn't the same without the curses, but it was still a good exercise.  
  
Genma decided to attempt another grapple. The younger man welcomed the opportunity and the two locked hands in a contest of strength. The lockup lasted fifteen seconds and Genma was losing ground. He would need to summon his chi to resist the young man's strength. Or... simply throw his opponent off balance by suddenly stopping his resistance and pulling the unsuspecting man into a classic stomach throw. Which is what he did. Genma was back on his feet before the surprised young man landed out of bounds.  
  
After picking up his next match assignment, Genma spoke to the young man. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Saotome Genma. I am Senior Instructor at the Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts." Technically it was true. He was older than Soun.  
  
His defeated opponent bowed and responded, "I am Sutsani Thomas, Junior Instructor of the Sutsani Judo Training Hall."  
  
The name didn't sound familiar, so Genma doubted that it was anyone he had dealt with (ripped off) in the past. He guided the younger man away from the challenge circle while talking to him. "So you work for your family school?"  
  
"Yes. It is an honorable calling."  
  
"You are strong and fast. You remind me of myself at your age." With proper training, Thomas could be a good student for the Anything Goes School. Genma kept this in mind while leading him to the concessions area for a talk.  
  
While Genma was busy talking to a potential recruit, Soun was busy losing his Men's Master Freehand match. The arm he had injured the day before had not recovered fully. This time he was unable to rely on kicks and leaps and eventually found himself on the receiving end of a joint lock on his injured arm. Ten seconds passed and Soun had lost his match.  
  
Mori Ichiro was getting ready for his quarter final match. Twirling his wooden version of a combat spatula, he looked to the area in the stands where most of his friends, teammates and senseis were sitting. His was the only match the School had until 10:30, so most of their eyes were on him.  
  
He'd originally signed up for Okonomiyaki Martial Arts in addition to Kempo because there was cooking involved. He wanted to learn how to cook, and it was one way he could take cooking lessons without looking like a girl. Besides, there were other benefits about his situation. The other nine people in the class were girls. Some of them, especially Kuonji-sensei, were cute girls.  
  
He arrived at Ring 25 and took at look at his opponent. So far Ichiro had fought two kendoists and a couple of staff users. This one had a naginata with a wooden 'blade'. Upon closer examination, he discovered his opponent was a girl, and a cute one at that. Ichiro remembered that Tendo-sensei said that one school had entered a bunch of girls in the boy's categories. But he'd also said that school was out of his bracket. 'Must be from another school', Ichiro thought.  
  
Unlike Ranma, Ichiro had no qualms about fighting girls. With only girls to spar against in his Okonomiyaki Martial Arts class, he'd got that beat out of him quickly. But it had built up his defense.  
  
He needed it too. This girl, whoever she was, went on the attack the moment the match started. In two minutes, she'd scored twice. The first was a glancing blow to his leg. The second, a solid strike that would have been a serious chest wound, if not a kill, had they been using real weapons.   
  
Down 1 1/2 to nothing, Ichiro just barely avoided taking another hit from a vicious cross cut. He'd had to jump left, almost leaving the ring. The girl leapt to follow and took another swing. Ichiro blocked it with the shaft of his weapon and inspiration struck. He slightly relaxed his left arm while pushing his right forward slightly. The shaft of the naginata slid down his own weapon. Torquing his hips and using leverage, Ichiro slammed the 'blade' of the naginata down to the mat. Outside the challenge ring. It was a cheap win, but his ribs hurt too much to care. After receiving the time and place of his semi-final match, his opponent came up and spoke.  
  
"That sucked. I had you," the girl told him.  
  
"Those were the rules. I didn't make 'em, I just used 'em."  
  
"In a real fight, you'd be dead."  
  
"My sensei told me last night, 'Tournaments aren't the real world. You can get away with things that you can't in real life.'" Ichiro waited for a response. When he didn't get one he continued, "After all, in real life, I'd have fought differently too."  
  
"Oh sure."  
  
"No really. In this tourney, empty handed blows aren't allowed. In a real fight, I would have tossed in some kicks and stuff. Oh, pardon me. I'm Mori Ichiro of the Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts."  
  
"Kano Joji, Mitsubishi Corporate Tokyo Dojo."  
  
"Mitsubishi's got a dojo?"  
  
"Yeah, it started with their security division and sorta grew from that. Now, the company just sponsors us for the prestige. I do most of my real training at home with my mom."  
  
"Sound's different." By this time, the two had left the main auditorium and were walking more or less towards the women's locker room.  
  
"Yeah, but you see all the support I got. You see anyone from Mitsubishi here? Even my mother didn't show up and I was the last one left from the 'school'. Hell, most of our people didn't get out of the first round. Wasn't your school in the top 10 last night?"  
  
"Third," Ichiro answered proudly. "You may hear some wild stories about Tendo Ranma, but he's the best martial artist I know."  
  
"You mean the stories where he turns into a woman?"  
  
"Yeah, that's one of them. It doesn't happen any more."  
  
"You mean it -was- true?" They had reached the entrance to the women's locker room.  
  
"Yeah... It was a curse. I was one of the first students at the Tendo/Saotome School, so I met him before he got cured."  
  
"Must of been pretty freaky."  
  
"Actually, you got used to it pretty quick. His father turning into a panda... That was weird."  
  
Joji seemed intrigued. "Look, I want to go get changed. But I want to talk some more too. Are you willing to wait?"  
  
Ichiro couldn't believe his good fortune. But he didn't want to give in too easily. "Well, I really need to get back to my sensei and let him know when my next match is. But just look for my spatula, and you'll find me. I promise I'll introduce you to Tendo-sensei"  
  
"O.K. I was planning on sticking around anyway. See you later." With that, Joji turned and entered the women's locker room.  
  
Ichiro slowly made his way back to the main auditorium. Kuonji-sensei was due up at 10:30, and he didn't want to miss that. But the larger part of his mind kept yelling 'YES!YES!YES!' repeatedly.  
  
Genma, Ukyo and Yasueh all had matches starting at 10:30. Yasueh was still a little tired from her grueling Freehand bout and was disarmed three minutes in while trailing 1 to 0. Genma's Open match was against same man he'd used the 'Koi Pond Toss' on in the third round of the Freehand tournament.  
  
His opponent was using kicks to keep Genma out of grappling range. After about thirty seconds of this, Genma just grabbed an incoming foot, and used it instead of his opponent's arm to launch him from the ring.  
  
Ukyo was worried when she saw that Tatewaki Kuno was her opponent for her Quarterfinals Men's Open Weapon match. Kuno used to hold back quite a bit against female opponents. Well, Akane anyway. But that was the 'old' Kuno. How would the 'new' Kuno act?  
  
Upon noting her presence Kuno said, "Ah Kuonji-san, it is a pleasure to see you again so soon. I only regret that the circumstances require that I defeat you."  
  
"Match hasn't started yet Kuno-san," Ukyo replied stiffly. 'C'mon, don't let him psyche you out, or this match is over before it starts', Ukyo thought, annoyed with her reaction.  
  
There was a five minute delay while the Head Judge for the bout returned from a bathroom break. Kuno stood quiet and motionless while Ukyo tried to get control of herself. The other two Tendo/Saotome 10:30 matches were already over, the entire school was watching her now.  
  
When the match did start, Ukyo took three quick steps forward and launched the first attack of the match. Kuno nimbly sidestepped and made an attack of his own. Ukyo blocked and blocked again when he launched another attack before Ukyo could prep a counter move.  
  
Kuno kept up the pressure, attacking faster and faster as Ukyo scrambled to keep up her defense. Kuno was much faster than anyone she had fought in the tournament. Almost as fast as Mousse she guessed. Finally, Ukyo leapt back out of range to get away from Kuno's onslaught. Kuno let her do so and did not approach while Ukyo caught her breath.  
  
Ukyo shifted her grip on her combat spatula and focused her breathing. A pale bluish aura grew around her. She leapt forward and launched a series of attacks. Most, Kuno simply avoided, the rest were blocked. The blocks were leaving dents in Ukyo's spatula and gouges in Kuno's bokken. The Judges were impressed.  
  
After two minutes of attacking Kuno, Ukyo began to tire. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Kuno to score the first touch of the match against Ukyo. And it was just a touch. Ukyo knew Kuno was capable of chopping down trees and shattering brick with his attacks. But the strike that hit her was just hard enough to know she'd been hit, nothing more.  
  
Ukyo tried gamely, but knew in her heart that Kuno had her. The final score was 3 to 1 in favor of Kuno. After the match, Kuno sought her out.  
  
"You are much faster than I remember you to be," he began.  
  
"A couple of years training with Ranma will do that. Not that it made a difference. You got faster too."  
  
"A small degree perhaps. I am little better than when I was possessed by my madness. The greatest change is that I am more mobile and not as linear in my techniques."  
  
"Your aikido training?"  
  
Kuno pondered a second or two before he answered, "I believe you are correct." Bowing slightly he finished his conversation with, "Pardon me, I must prepare for my next match."  
  
"Uh... yeah. Later," Ukyo managed, somewhat flustered.  
  
Ranma leapt down from his place in the stands to land lightly beside Ukyo. "What was that all about? It looked like he was measuring you in there," he observed.  
  
"I think he was. This is not the old Kuno we knew and despised. I'm not really sure what he is now. Or what he's up to."  
  
"I'm not going to worry about it. You shouldn't either. Do me a favor will you?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Ichiro-kun's introduced me to the girl he beat in his last match. Could you get him to focus a little on his next match?"  
  
"Is she a pretty girl?"  
  
Ranma laughed and answered, "I'm an old married guy, I don't look anymore. But yeah, she is. I'd hate for him to get knocked out of the tournament because his hormones are raging. Kami knows I wasn't like that when I was his age."  
  
"If you had been, you'd have probably married Shampoo. All those times she climbed in the furo with you."  
  
"How'd you hear about that?"  
  
"Kasumi told me."  
  
Ranma stared at Ukyo before turning to stare at Kasumi in the stands. Ranma shook his head and muttered, "Just talk to Ichiro-kun, O.K.?" He then wandered off in the direction of the nearest exit.  
  
Ukyo looked around for Ichiro's combat spatula, finding Ichiro strapped to it. He was kneeling in one of the aisles, chatting amicably with a girl about his own age who was sitting in a seat next to the aisle. Ukyo ambled that way, thinking about what she should say.  
  
-----  
  
When the Semi-Finals began, The Tendo/Saotome School was down to competing in six divisions. Genma was still in the Men's Open Freehand and Open divisions. Mori Ichiro, suitably chastised by Ukyo, was still in the Boys 13-15 Weapons tourney. Ukyo herself had a Women's Open Freehand match coming up. Jiang Gang was still in the Boy's 12 and Under Freehand tourney. Ysuchiya Yasueh was up first in the Girl's 12 and Under Freehand competition.  
  
The Main Auditorium had undergone some changes as well. There were now only twelve challenge circles that had been widened to about 7.6 meters. Each age/gender bracket had their own for all matches in that bracket. The crowd had thinned out a bit with some of the schools that had been eliminated in the quarterfinals having left. But there was still a sizable crowd as those who were interested in martial arts as a whole stayed.  
  
Yasueh-chan won by forfeit. Her scheduled opponent had been injured in the previous round and could not compete. She would be going to the finals without lifting a finger. Ranma was happy to have a student in the finals, but wondered if he'd miss the six points Yasueh could have earned with a win.  
  
Mori Ichiro, determined to impress Kano Joji, soundly thrashed his semifinals opponent, winning 5 to 2. If he won the tourney, he was going to ask her on a date.  
  
Genma won his two matches. Genma, with the additional room to move around in, abandoned the 'Koi Pond Toss'. Instead he turned the Freehand match into a demonstration of the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts complete with commentary. Refusing to let his opponent escape, Genma won his Freehand match 5 1/2 to 1 1/2 with a spectacular aerial assault.  
  
In the Open match, Genma had to work for a change. Overcoming a former tournament champion and Olympic silver medalist in Judo wasn't easy. Genma got briefly pinned twice, but managed to free himself both times. After escaping the second pin, Genma concentrated on keeping his opponent out of grappling range. Picking up his points from long range kicks, Genma slowly built a lead. The match ended after the full fifteen minutes with Genma winning 4 to 3. It was the best anyone had done against him. Genma thought about going on a training trip after the tournament. He was getting sloppy in his old age.  
  
Jiang Gang was next up for the Tendo/Saotome School. At 10, he was the youngest competitor to make the Semi-finals in the tournament. All of his opponents had been older then he was, most of them larger as well. This one was both. That in itself wasn't a surprise. The surprise was that his opponent was nearly 180 centimeters tall and weighed well over 100 kilos.  
  
"You're twelve?" he asked of the junior man-mountain.  
  
The half scale model of the Dojo Destroyer nodded without speaking.  
  
Gang wasn't normally afraid of sheer size. He was fast and skilled for his age. Since this was a tournament, he'd go for quick hits and see where it got him.  
  
It got him ejected from the ring. Gang never stood a chance. His opponent, who -was- the younger brother of the infamous Dojo Destroyer, had the same surprising speed of his sibling. His first attack was enough to knock Gang from the ring by a good three meters.  
  
Gang vowed he'd find a way to win the next time the two fought.  
  
Ukyo was last up in the semi final round. Her opponent was a mature woman who looked limber and lean. Ukyo scored first with a quick, half point, low kick. But then her opponent's defense firmed up. Then her adversary started striking back. Ukyo was down 4 to 1 before she knew it. The woman wasn't as fast as Kuno, or even herself. Ukyo knew this. But she was scoring little ticky tack hits almost at will.  
  
Ukyo focused her breathing as she returned to the ready position. A full point strike would mean she was out of the tournament. Her chi wouldn't focus. Ukyo was still trying to gain some semblance of inner balance when the match restarted.  
  
A punch, a block, a feint, some evasions, a kick and a missed block later and the score was 4 1/2 to 1. Ukyo couldn't think of what was wrong with her. One more hit and she was done. She breathed deeply, again trying to settle herself and focus her chi. This time she caught it. There -was- something wrong with her chi. Something, she didn't know what, was causing her stand there and get hit. "That's it! It's like Akane hitting Ranma!" she cried aloud.  
  
The anger at being caught by such a trick was enough to flare her aura a bright red. The previously invisible chi tendrils that had been enveloping Ukyo glowed black for a moment before being burned away by Ukyo's aura. Her opponent lost the smile that had been growing on her face since the beginning of the match.  
  
The match was restarted. "All right bitch, the jig's up!" Ukyo shouted. Glowing with anger, she charged her opponent. Her foe launched a kick to intercept and win the match. Ukyo had expected the defensive strike and was ready for it. Grabbing the incoming foot, Ukyo threw it up at an angle with enough force to cause her adversary to spin away from Ukyo. Before her foe could turn the momentum into a spinning kick, Ukyo grabbed her from behind. Lifting with chi-magnified strength, Ukyo picked up the woman and slammed her down outside of the ring for the win.  
  
-----  
  
There was a big problem for the Tendo/Saotome team when the finals were announced. By tradition, the final three matches were Men's Open Freehand, Men's Open Weapon and Men's Open Open. These all started simultaneously and were the last bouts of the tournament. The problem was the Genma was to be in two of the three. The tournament committee chose to swap the Men's Open Freehand Final with the Men's Master Freehand Final.  
  
This meant that all of 60 minutes would separate the starts of Genma's matches. There would be little in the way of recovery time. It was the best the Tournament committee could do without seriously screwing up the schedule. Genma took the news stoically. But then he figured that he would win both matches easily anyway.  
  
When the break between Semis and Finals was over, the schools representatives found the floor of the auditorium changed again. There were only three challenge circles now, each twice as wide as a sumo ring (9.1 meters), spaced evenly in the large room. Along one side of each ring was a raised dais for the judges to sit. The crowd had thinned out a bit, but was still over 4000 strong.  
  
Ysuchiya Yasueh's Girl's Freehand Final was the second Finals match of the tourney. Ranma and Akane were watching closely from the edge of the challenge ring. This was the first of the five finals their school would be involved in.  
  
"First, Introducing, on the Red Line, from the Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts, Ysuchiya Yasueh!" the announcer crowed. There was a smattering of applause, mostly from her teammates and school.  
  
"Now, Introducing, on the Green Line, from the Tetsuma Training Hall, Yamazaki Tomoe!" the announcer finished in the same enthusiastic manner in which he had announced all the competitors. Another, slightly larger, round of applause came and went.  
  
The two girls bowed to the Judges then bowed to each other. The head Judge said, "Begin," and the contest was underway. The two girls circled clockwise, slowly getting closer to each other. Yasueh stepped up and feinted a punch to test her opponent's reaction, which was to block with her arms and firm up her stance.  
  
Tomoe launched a quick snap kick which Yasueh calmly blocked. This was followed by a three punch combination, the last of which Yasueh failed to block. The Judges called it a half point and the two girls returned to the ready position.  
  
After the restart, Yasueh bored straight in toward her opponent. Blocking a kick on the way in, Yasueh maneuvered herself around for a hip toss. It wasn't the best one she'd ever done, but the Judges awarded her a half point for it.  
  
The next four restarts resulted in two half point scores for both girls. Over seven of the allotted fifteen minutes had passed. Yasueh's semi-finals bye meant she was the more rested of the two fighters. It showed when she won a full point from a leaping side kick. This was followed by blocking a high punch and countering with a scoring midriff punch on the next restart. The next encounter, Yasueh used her superior strength to do a passable imitation of Genma's 'Koi Pond Toss'. It wasn't enough to throw Tomoe from the ring, but was scored as a full point.  
  
Tomoe rallied for three half point kicks to get to 4 - 3. Tomoe then went to the well one time too many. The round kick that had scored the last three times was ducked. Before the surprised girl could regain her equilibrium, Yasueh came in from underneath and dumped Tomoe on her butt. The five Judges conferred, and Yasueh was granted half a point.  
  
Needing only one solid hit to win the tournament, Yasueh reviewed her repertory of attacks and chose one. At the command to restart, Yasueh took two quick steps forward and left the ground in a dive. Completing a beautiful shoulder roll, she came up in position to throw a kneeling punch. Tomoe, surprised by the maneuver, attempted a desperate block. Yasueh's blow bashed past the attempted block for the championship winning punch.  
  
After the half point blow was called, Yasueh started jumping up and down. "I Won! I Won! Tendo-sensei! Saotome-sensei! I Won!"   
  
Ranma and Akane were smiling happily at their young student. At least until Ranma was on the receiving end of a flying tackle/hug from the girl. Then his smile became pained from the impact to his genitalia. After Akane figured out what happened, she laughed all the way back to the stands. When the three of them arrived, Yasueh got mobbed by her fellow students.  
  
Things had barely started to settle down when Mori Ichiro's Boy's 13-15 Weapons match started in the ring Yasueh had just left. He wanted to win the match and follow it up by asking Kano Joji on a date. She was sitting with the Tendo/Saotome contingent. How could she resist a champion?  
  
When the match started, Ichiro chose to size up his opponent's ability. For a while, it went well. His opponent seemed as fast as he was, but his bamboo sword was faster than the combat spatula. So Ichiro was forced to fight defensively for the first three minutes of the match.  
  
After a particularly vicious and fruitless exchange of blows, Ichiro used the one chi ability he had, and made a high vertical leap. He intended to make a two handed strike with the flat of his spatula. But his opponent had other plans and quickly moved out of range from any possible strike.  
  
Ichiro landed without launching his attack and observed his opponent warily for a moment. It was all he got as his foe went from -there- to -here- faster than Ichiro could track him. His desperate attempt at a block failed and he was struck with the tip of his foe's bamboo sword dead in his solar plexus. Ichiro went down and stayed down. Unable to answer the call for the next restart, he lost.   
  
Ichiro's mind was in turmoil as he trudged his way to the seats the Tendo/Saotome dojo had staked out. 'This is bad. This is horrible. This is worse than horrible. How can I possibly ask Joji out on a date now?' his internal monologue went as he made his way to the stands. And there she was, the first person he saw as he climbed the stairs to the fifth row. 'Just what I needed. She's gonna dump me and we weren't even dating yet.'  
  
Joji came up to him and said "Nice match."  
  
Ichiro boggled for a bit. Mind and mouth not in the same gear, he said, "I lost."  
  
Joji smiled patiently and asked, "This is your first time at this tournament isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah," he answered guardedly.  
  
"Kawasa Kenichi has won the weapons division of this tournament the last three years in his age bracket. He won the -Nationals- the last year. He knocked me out of this tournament last year in the first round. Was real smug about it too. You lasted a lot longer than I did."  
  
"He's that good?"  
  
"Didn't you listen to the ring announcer? He said that Kawasa was a returning three time champ."  
  
"Uh... Not really. I was thinking about something else."  
  
"What?" Joji asked sharply.  
  
In a tiny voice, Ichiro answered, "asking you out."  
  
Joji was shocked. Merely for confirmation purposes, she said "What?" again. This time her voice was much gentler.  
  
"I was going to ask you out if I won."  
  
"Well, you didn't win. Does that mean you don't want to ask me out now?"  
  
"No!" he responded desperately.  
  
"THEN ASK ALREADY!" the mildly upset girl shouted.  
  
"No need to yell!" Ichiro shot back. After a deep breath, he appealed to her, "Kano Joji, will you go out with me?"  
  
"I'll think about it."  
  
"What?!"  
  
Joji rolled her eyes and after a slightly exasperated sigh, answered, "Yes, I'll go out with you. But you better behave yourself."  
  
All of a sudden, Mori Ichiro wasn't so upset about losing.  
  
-----  
  
Genma's Open Freehand Final wouldn't start for almost two hours. Ranma spent the time watching the various matches and analyzing the competitors in them. The matches were staggered at five and ten minute intervals, so only occasionally did Ranma have to watch more than one fight at a time.  
  
After Ichiro-kun lost in his final, Ranma observed that most of the finalists from that point on were displaying some signs of chi usage, although there had been no visible auras since Ukyo's match in the semis. Ranma had made his own notes throughout the tournament. Less than 2% of the fighters total had shown any signs of chi ability at all. There were others he wasn't so sure about. Most of what he'd seen were super leaps or enhanced speed techniques. The most sophisticated chi attack had been in Ukyo's semi final match.  
  
His private name for it was 'Cobra Stare Smash'. He thought it related to Soun's 'Demon Head' attack. The person using the technique locks eyes with the target, who freezes up. Then the user whacks the defenseless target. Once he realized the true nature of the attack, he didn't worry near as much about Akane's martial arts abilities. If she could perfect that technique, she wouldn't need the speed of the Kacchu Tenshin Amiguriken. Pulling a hammer out of nowhere to beat the target with seemed to be Akane's signature variation of the technique.  
  
After the Junior divisions were completed, the Senior's finals took place. Ranma watched with only half an eye, noting only that Tamatan Martial Arts Academy won once and Maki-Yanagimoto Combined Styles Dojo won twice, including a head to head match between the two schools. Ranma kissed visions of winning the tourney goodbye and hoped to hang on to third.  
  
The Master's divisions were more interesting. Ranma spotted a chi technique that he might want to copy from the winner of the Women's Master Freehand. It was a version of the Amiguriken, but used kicks instead of punches. If he could figure out that one, he'd be able to race express trains across town. Well, for short distances anyway.  
  
When Genma's Men's Open Freehand match was called, Ranma returned his attention to the middle ring. Genma and his opponent, Horii Ishihama, were introduced and the match was underway. It was clear from the first seconds of the match that the two had considerable chi skills. Both men leapt around the ring as though the law of gravity had been repealed.  
  
The Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts specializes in mid air attacks. Horii wasn't fazed by them. When Genma finally managed a throw, his opponent grabbed the sleeve of Genma's gi at the last possible instant. Both men fell to the ground in a heap. The Judges conferred, called 'no point' and ordered the two men back to the ready position. By this time, they had the attention of the entire auditorium. While the match was restarted, a hurried conference by the tournament committee pushed back the start of the next match until this one was over. This promised to be one for the ages.  
  
Nobody was disappointed. Genma pulled out everything but the forbidden techniques. Horii Ishihama pulled out a few tricks of his own. A bright blue skin tight battle aura was met with a panda bear aura, complete with claws, generated by Genma. He might be cured of his curse, but the time spent in another form had led to developing a useful tool for his own arsenal of tricks.  
  
The ghostly claws shredded his opponent's gi, but did no real damage. The blue aura dissipated the claws as they came in contact, only to have them reappear when Genma withdrew his hand.  
  
Ranma judged they both could have easily upped the power level, but didn't want to endanger the spectators. His father had many personal flaws, but was -still- one heck of a martial artist.  
  
The match went the full fifteen minutes. Both combatants collapsed after the time bell rang. It had been a greater strain to keep the power levels down than to let loose with everything the two men had. The final score was 0-0 despite both men giving and taking numerous blows. Since all the attacks were simultaneous (or close enough that the judges couldn't tell the difference), no points were awarded for the furious blows, blocks and counters that the two men had traded.  
  
Official policy was to have tied matches decided by the Judges. Aggressive behavior would get the nod over defensive behavior. The five judge panel split 3-2 in favor of Genma.  
  
"Hell of a fight there Otosan," Ranma told his father respectfully.  
  
Genma was too tired to say anything about Ranma's uncharacteristic show of respect. He just nodded before taking a swallow of ice water from a glass Nodoka handed him. He then sat down and tried to get his wind back. The remaining schedule was pushed back 10 minutes, but he still had another match in under an hour.  
  
Only Soun and Kasumi were allowed near Genma. Akane didn't want her father in law to lose his chance to rest. But her father came to congratulate his old friend and her sister came to give Genma a rub down. The rest of the well wishers could wait for a bit.  
  
Ukyo's match was up next. She stopped momentarily to tell Genma that his next meal at her restaurant was on the house. Genma perked up a bit at this and Ukyo went down to the auditorium floor for the Women's Open Freehand Final.  
  
Her opponent was introduced as a seven time tournament winner. Ukyo took a long look at her. In her mid thirties, tall, whipcord thin, dark eyes with white hair cut very short. To Ukyo's eyes, it was as if she was vibrating with eagerness for the match to begin. Ukyo figured her for a speed burner who scored her points off cheap hits.  
  
Once the match began, Ukyo proved correct. Yashida Shizue darted in and out making repeated quick attacks with no real force behind them. Ukyo knew chi-enhanced speed when she was hit by it. Of all the attacks, she avoided most of them, and blocked others but was down 2 1/2 to 0 in less than four minutes from five blows that wouldn't have bruised a tomato. Calling on her own chi, Ukyo finally nailed Yashida with a fast front kick that struck her opponent's thigh.  
  
'If I can grapple her, she's mine,' Ukyo told herself. Yashida's attacks were met with grabs and grappling attempts. Ukyo lost another point on weak strikes in the process. 'Just one, it's all I need.'  
  
Yashida Shizue knew she led 3 1/2 to 1/2 and that her adversary was on the defensive. So she played for time and the pace of her attacks slowed. She would dart in just often enough to keep Ukyo on the defensive.  
  
Ukyo knew that she had to attack or lose the match. Ukyo charged, arms wide open and screaming wordlessly at the top of her lungs. The charging attack connected. Yashida grabbed on for dear life to keep from being knocked from the ring. The extra 47 kilos were enough to throw off Ukyo's balance. She took one extra step and went over the edge of the challenge ring before she could dislodge her opponent. The match was over. She'd lost. Five centimeters less on the last step. That was all the difference.  
  
Genma's Men's Open Open Final started the same time as Kuno Tatewaki's Men's Open Weapon Final. Despite performing at a level beyond any non chi user, Genma was still tired from his previous match. His opponent, Ouichi Yoshi, was definitely another chi user. Genma got in trouble early. By the time Kuno had knocked his opponent from the ring in his Men's Open Weapons Final, Genma was down 2 - 0. After falling to 3 1/2 to 0, Genma rallied for two points off weak (for him) counter throws. But when he next locked bodies with his opponent, he fell into a wrist lock. Twist, pull, shove and Genma landed out of the challenge ring. The match and the tournament were over.  
  
Ranma checked off his father's name from the chart in his lap. Final total for the Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts was 202 points. Where that would finish among all the schools, Ranma didn't have a clue. But after receiving a front row seating assignment for the closing ceremonies, Ranma knew they done very well indeed.  
  
By the time the Awards ceremonies started, Kasumi and a few others had already left to prepare for the victory celebration back at the dojo. Most of the crowd had gone with them. Only the diehard fans, some of the competitors and their friends, teammates and relatives stayed for the awards and final tallies.   
  
As the various medalists were called to the podium, Akane thought about the results. Two champions, three finalists and a semi finalist. A total of 54 wins with only 12 losses. At least two dozen people had approached her about beginning classes at the dojo. Even more had spoken to either Ranma, or one of their fathers. Overall, Akane was very happy with the performance of her school, it's students and staff.  
  
After the division honors were passed out, Genma and Horii Ishihama were given a special award for having the tournament's best match in the Men's Open Freehand final. Genma's other Finals opponent took the 'Best fighter' trophy by scoring a total of 85 points in the tournament. Genma was second overall with 77.  
  
The Maki-Yanagimoto Combined Styles Dojo won the tournament with a total of 237 points, winning a total of five divisions. Tamatan Martial Arts Academy fished second with 213 points and three champions. The 202 points captured by the Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts was enough to hold on to third place.  
  
Besides the 3rd place overall trophy, Ranma accepted on behalf of his school, "Best Winning Percentage" and "Best New School" trophies and the 2nd place trophy for the Junior's Tourney. The next thing that Ranma needed for the dojo was a trophy case. Not that he was personally worried about the school's performance. But it would be a nice selling point to potential students.  
  
The closing ceremonies finished with a group of six shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) players. When the last notes of their haunting tune faded, the crowd got up and started to make their way to the exits. Akane and Ranma dismissed their students and waited for the crowd to thin out.  
  
After a few minutes, Akane slung her old schoolbag over her shoulder and handed Ranma the larger trophies to carry. "Well, not bad for a first appearance," Akane said, while rubbing her taut belly.  
  
"I guess", Ranma agreed halfheartedly. "You do realize this tournament didn't have the best fighters."  
  
"Well, you weren't in it," Akane observed wryly.  
  
"True. But none of the dojo owners were allowed to compete and Mousse wasn't here. He might have been able to beat Kuno."  
  
"I think Mousse would want more room than these challenge circles have."  
  
"Yeah, you're right. Tournament fighting is a lot different from real life."  
  
"Promise me you won't start teaching to the tournament."  
  
"Damn straight. Better to win in the real world than win a tournament any day. But you're right, this was a good start. Yasueh-chan might get an invite to the Nationals out of this."  
  
"What about your father?"  
  
"Pops made it real clear he wasn't gonna do this again. 'sides, I don't think I can afford to bribe him again."  
  
Akane turned and looked at her husband with narrowed eyes. In a voice between curious and angry, she asked. "What -did- you promise him?"  
  
"A meal at 'Ukyo's' for every point he won."  
  
Akane did a quick calculation. "Ouch."  
  
"Well it was either that, or a bottle of sake for each point."  
  
"Double Ouch, we're better off with the meals. We can work out a deal with Ukyo for those."  
  
"That's what I figured." Ranma looked around. The crowd at the exit had dwindled enough to make leaving easier for a pregnant woman. "Let's go home. We've earned a party."  
  
Wrapping her arm around her husband's waist, Akane guided Ranma from the auditorium and into the night.  
  
END  
  
Children of the Heart - Tournament  
  
-----  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 characters belong to Takahashi-sama and whomever she sold the rights to. I'm not in this for money, I just write this stuff for fun. And yeah, the disclaimer is at the end this time. If you download this, you should probably use a fixed width font and respace the first page. It'll keep things in order better. (Stupid HTML.) 


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